U M B R A
by Kowareteiru Uta
Summary: 'Master" She would be the first to call her name and the last to spill her blood. She was the perfect pawn, a ruthless machine to kill and destroy, love would be forever out of her reach. Even that pair of acid green eyes wouldn't change that, right? But because they where made of the same ice she chose the darkest path to finally find her own light. AU Blood & Swearing.
1. And It Never Was The End

**Hello guys, I have been busy so I didn't update as soon as I wanted to but I'm still coming up with new chapters. Also if you really want this story and Fireflies to continue unlike Twisted Lies please review so I know I have support. Writing for only myself is no fun you know.**

She didn't remember well, how was life before, did she even have one? Thinking was hard now, she had not done it in a very long time, why would she before today? A warm nest, prey running in every bush and, most importantly, a honey smooth voice to guide her, to keep her going. Really it was useless, do what the Master says and he would not strike you, he would feed you and protect you. That mindless state had been her safe heaven for years, it was cosy to know you where a tiny part in the huge machinery of the Hord yet without every single cat in the group it would simply not exist.

The Master didn't deserve that she decided, the Master should have lived not her. It was so wrong and unthinkable that she would be standing while the Master was gone far away, why did she live? Surely she should have seen what killed the Master, fought it off or give her life trying. So why was she living, moving and thinking while the Master was down, cold and motionless?

She was shaking, her legs where buckling under her with exhaustion and the north wind cut though her pelt but that was not quite the reason. One single question plagued her mind; without the Master what was she to do, did she have a purpose in life now? And because she had not would she have to find a new master now, raise him in power and care for him like the Master did for her?

But she could not, the master had been all for her, his pelt a soft silver, his markings like running water and his eyes like tiny yet as powerful suns, he had been her whole world. But this very world she lived in had crumbled around them, the Evil she could not see ripping them apart, and no matter how much she rolled around in the crumbs she could not repair the shell. She was truly alone now, the Hord had shattered, cats who remembered life without the Master had fled and the very few that remained, huddled in a miserable heap, where useless to her.

Then a thought crossed her mind, the very first since she was sitting beside the Master's cold body. Surely the Master would not have wanted this, his wish would have been to see the Hord continue to live and to be one, a blissful whole where thinking was not needed and where battles where to be faced as one and won. No, the Master was not selfish, he would not have wanted them to sit around uselessly, they had to become one again or they would not survive. And who was she to deny the Master's wish?

But then she thought, to help the others live as one again there had to be one to think, to guide them through life and to feed them, protect them from any harm. And then she thought, her breath speeding up, as the Master's favourite one she had to step up, guide those lost cats through the path the Master wanted to follow, because of that she had to speak, to become the new Master.

_Thank you Master_ she said, because it had to be the Master who sent her those thoughts, to help her and to keep the Hord alive, he always had been so brave, he always wanted the other cats to understand him, the ones who had lived their lives thinking. They did not know the blissful peace you lived in, your mind was empty and filled with fuzzy moss, keeping you from the dreadful wed of lies thinking induced. _Yes, yes that is the Master's wish, thank you for the peace, thank you for bringing me up as a true Hord cat I will not fail you. _Of course she would have to sacrifice herself, she would have to think for the Hord, fight off the unseen Evil and guide them trough life as the Master always had.

The Hord was small now, but it was pure because the cowards had run away, herded off by the Evil. So maybe the Evil was necessary, to purge the Hord, but it was still very bad because it had taken the master away. _The Hord needs new life, and there is no better remedy than kits._

It scared her a bit, the icy clear state that had taken over her mind, as if she was meant to plan this all her life. But of course she was not, following the Master's wish was her only motivation, she was not an ignorant the Hord was good and she had to spread the goodness to the other cats.

"Up" she said to the remaining Hord cats, and she was surpised to hear how her voice was smooth and confident.

The Hord cats slowly came out of their state of shock, the voice was new but not unknown, the red cat had been like the Master's shadow so surely he was very fond of her. So they rose, hesitantly at first but as her icy gaze swept over them they where suddently in a rush to please her. The red cat had spoken so they had to obey, those who remembered the Master befpre the one who lay at the ed cat's feet knew she was taking over, leading the Hord to another life, like a phoenix rises from his own ashes.

It was good, the Hord cats where being very good so they had to be rewarded. _I will speak to them but what can I say? _The Master would surely provide, he had to because without him she was nothing.

"Cats of the Hord, males and females alike and equal" she said, and was again surprised at how natural it felt, to be sitting on this ledge with attentive cats drinking her every word.

"We all know the Evil has striken because our beloved Master is laying here and he will not wake up, but it was necessary to purge the Hord from cowards and Thinkers. The warmth has been sucked from him and what has been once lost cannot be recovered. Threfore I take the right to speak fisrt after his body has chilled, he trusted me with his life and so did I, that is why I shall take up his wish and help his spirit spread it to the lost cats who do not follow our ways. My name is Roaring Fire and I shall be your Master!"

The Hord cats looked incertain before her expectant gaze and each one of them gazed at their neighbor until a small kit stepped up.

"Master Roaring Fire!" she sqeaked, and warmth that had fled Roaring Fire returned.

Her mother looked up to her new Master and mewed in a shaking voice;

"Master Roaring Fire!"

And just like that, cat after cat, hesitant at first but getting stronger as it was chanted by every single cat below her, the sound of her newfound name filled the cold cave, sweeping away any thought that might have sprouted in the Hord cats.

_Yes, I am truly grateful for you Master or you have shown me the path to follow and I will guide the unthaithful cats towards your light._

_Always._


	2. Cruel World

**Hello dearies, I'm back with the second chapter of Fire Storm and I hope you'll like it. Well I do and yes our little kitty really believes she does it for the good of her Master and all cats. And I sure hope that you guys know that without reviews I can't last long.**

They had been walking for days and the wind nor the cold seemed to be able to stop Roaring Fire or Master as her mother called her, from continuing her journey. Needless to say the small kit was suffering greatly from her frozen fur and torn up pads, the moutains where cold and unforgiving to small creatures.

And so she had been walking blindly for days, unable to tell he difference between night and day as they where caught in the longest storm of her short life. The hunger didn't help, snow only fiercened the beast in her stomach and it was howling for food, anything, but there was nothing and her small body bore the signs of severe malnutrition as sure than the bones jutted out awkwardly from her ribcage.

That night thought was different, the cruel wind seemed to lessen a bit and the Master was kind enougth to let her nibble the bones, the marrow cold but filling for her shrunken stomach. That fact alone made her be happy about the current leadership, she had learned early that not all cats where this kind.

All the other kits had been like her mother, blind and ignorant, following the Master like newborns. But that was before the cold and lack of food had shaped their pelt to mold every bone in their frail body, they where silent now, small skeletons in a coffin of ice. She herself was only alive because the Hord needed kits, and because the Master had become fond of her in her own twisted way. She had even named her, not all cats received this privilege let alone four moon old kits but no one dared complain, they couldn't even think of it. So she had been named Shadow, an odd name for a white cat, she supposed the Master had her reasons.

One night, after another day lost wandering aimlessly around the mountains, the Master asked for her, beckoning the kit into her cave. Something was off, the Master didn't just invite cats into her sleeping place usually, so why did she let her in? Was it because she had been the first to chant her name, because she survived the mountains and kept walking or was it simply because she had become the closest thing to a friend the Master had? She just didn't understand so she followed Roaring Fire without a word, getting deeper into the maze of tunnels that where within the frozen heart of the mountains.

When they finally settled down in an apparently bare cave the Master spoke, that was the first time she heard the Master's voice in days.

"Do not fear young one, even if the scent rolls off your pelt in waves." said the master, but it didn't help. She heard her sigh, a tiny reminder that the Master was a living creature, and she turned her attention on her, waiting fo her superior to continue.

"We are strong, but the Great Master isn't satisfied yet, we must represent perfection if we want to convince the unbelievers that our ways are right." said fervently the Master.

How ironic she thought, they where lost in hostile mountains, half dead and not havin seen another cat in seasons yet the Master talked of perfection. _No!_ She scolded herself, her faith in the master must no waver, it was her only chance to keep a shred of sanity in this world, the Master had her reasons.

"That is why we must have someone prepared to lead the Hord if the Evil tries to claim me too, do you understand?"

Shadow realised that was her chance, all she had to do was follow, not think because if she did the grief would be too much to bear, she had only done what she told her, surely there was no fault in following her Master? And of course she nodded eagerly, trying to ignore the burning feeling called ambition in her gut, the Master only could command and until the Master was no more she would follow.

"Good" said the master, she looked pleased. "I shall lead you in the painful ways of our ennemies too, because you have to sacrifice yourself and think to guide them all in the perfect ways of the Hord, do you understand?"

The kit nodded, and in her sould remained innocence because she could not see the coldness in her Master's gaze, nor could she guess what sheme the twisted molly had weaved. She just wanted to please the Master, to see approval in her gaze again. And because her own mother was too far gone to take care of her she looked up to the cruel creature who shaped their lives as she willed.

Shadow whimpered, she tried to shut her jaws but is was no avail because the pain caused by the srtiking claws was stronger than her will. So she just stayed crouched there, waiting for the daily torture to stop, to allow her to crawl back to the other Hord cats. But of course she deserved it, she was here of her own will after all, convinced by the Master's silver speech. She understood that if she could not stand the pain the she could not bear the burden of leadership, she understood her sacrifice was necessary, but it didn't stop her from being painfully aware of the curved claws tearing her open.

Did anyone love this small kit, did she have anyone to rely on if things got bad? No, and she knew that if she failed she would join her siblings in their bed of ice. But because she had never known better, because the Master's protection was a thing she was grateful for and because she had no chance of surviving alone she didn't complain.

That gave her strengh and after a moon of daily beatings she could stand still, not a hair in her body shivering, she barely felt anything now. Of course it didn't stop the master, her claws continued to shash teir way through her fur, but the pain had reduced so much that it was worth the scars that crisscrossed every inch of her pelt.

One day thought the training changed, and it began as usual with the Master calling for her in the night, and she feared that moment. After they had repeated the usual greetings, the Master breathing down her neck in her craving for undertandment.

"Dear Shadow, I have named you, I have protected you and banned pain from your body, now it is your turn to help the Hord."

Of course Shadow understood, it was only fair after all, but it didn't stop her from feeeling dissapointed. After all that the Master was going to send her to her death, as she that useless to her?

"This is the reason why you shall join the hunters."

She allowed herself to breathe out an inaudible sigh of relief, so she could maybe escape an even more cruel fate after all. Hunting was difficult in this frozen world and numerous where the ones who didn't return from the patrols. She still had a chance, it was small and wrinkled but she had one and that tiny spark of hope was enough to keep her going, hoping that one day she would be strong enough to please her Master. Yes, indeed she hoped for survival, that small kit thrown too early in a world she didn't understand yet, maybe was it that hope who kept her alive until now?

But even her broken mother knew that unless there was a miracle the luck wouldn't last long enough, the kit was too small and too trusting in the others to survive the sheme the Master had planned for her.

The Master never wasted her time.


	3. The Coward And The Nearly Martyr

_Fought your fight,_

_Bought your lie,_

_And in return I lost my life._

Survivor's Guilt, Rise Against

**This lack of reviews is really becoming annoying, it takes less than a minute so why don't you do it?**

Thistle could barely remember the days passed as a clan cat now, the memories had faded quickly after she had ran away with Coal, Spider and Sky. But Sky was dead now, her mangled body surely resting at the foot of a cliff, Spider had turned bitter and Coal didn't laugh anymore. It was as if the stone flanks of the mountains where slowly killing any emotion their heart managed to spark, tuning them ice cold. Maybe it was true, maybe her mother really hated her, maybe Hawkscreech and Echostream where better off without them. She didn't want to think about it anymore, she didn't even know why they had entered the mountains.

Even if they got out of this silent world ice they would be changed forever, the cold rocks where cruel and stalked each one of your mistakes, waiting to kill you off.

No, she couldn't think like that, not now that she had those kits to protect, and Sky's only kit, Flight, needed every support she could have to survive the harsh blizzard. They where three, tiny and helpless but sparking a burning fire in her heart, she would kill, she would steal, she would burn her friends to protect them. Her gaze rested on each one of them.

_Glimmen, _the oldest and the strongest kit had a dark grey pelt and amber eyes of the most beautiful kind.

_Ruhe, _her soft tortoiseshell pelt, her long slender limbs and her acid green eyes where beautiful, she would be envied by many.

_Ansturm, _she was a short, skinny kit, but her ruffled silver pelt was thick and her yellow eyes shone with an unusual strengh for such a small kit.

They where perfect she decided, and nothing could ever part them. Maybe she could even start her own group, the kits would grow big and strong, fed by eagles and melted ice. They where her only reason to continue now and she would not fail, they will survive.

Once Coal had returned she voiced her thoughts, telling him about the plan, that they would live all happily together. The more she talked, the more she became sure that she would succeed. And even if he scorned her, Coal's eyes held a bit of their old fire.

Once they where all reunited in their shelter, all standing in front of her. Spider, the tom with the frozen heart, Flight, the molly who loved the others more than herself, Coal, her cold but faithful mate and finally Glimmen, Ruhe and Ansturm, her most precious kits. Even if she kitted only a few days ago she knew they had to move, to lead those cats who trusted her to a better home. Even if they didn't leave the mountains they had to go, cross the empty land that stood between them and a better place to live.

Her thoughts where interrupted by an unknown cat crashing into the cave. Surprisingly enough it was a kitten. Her originally white fur was matted with dirt and wellowish until the underbelly, her eyes, huge pools of sapphire, where dull and crusted by sickness. To add to her miserable appearance her tiny body was frail and laced with scars, some still seeping with pus, and her fur hung loosely on her bony frame, her ribs poking out all too clearly. Once she realised where she had fallen she scrambled backwards, fear written over her delicate features.

"The Master will be unhappy." she muttered weakly, stumbling over her own paws in her rush to exit the place.

Thistle frowned, how come that such a small kit was out there alone, if this 'Master' she mentioned was behind that it was surely a cruel cat. She glanced at the precious bundles laying in the moss, that poor thing was a kitten too. A rush of protectiveness sized her heart and she snatched the kitten right under the nose of a hissing Spider. The tiny bundle of fur trashed around, hissing and growling all she could. Even Coal seemed impressed at the amount of curses the white kit spat out. Thistle just held tighter, trying to coax the small ball of fury into trusting her, seemingly unfazed by the filth and fleas covering the shivering body.

A hiss came from the entrance of the cave, apparently the kitten wasn't alone because a very hansome and very furious tom was standing in the dying light.

"How dare you!" growled the stanger, pratically seething in anger.

While Flight, being the soft hearted cat she was, cowered in a corner Coal just chuckled, brushing off this display of rage.

"And who do you think you are to make such threats?" hissed Spider, he had a cruel grin on his face.

The it suddently stopped struggling, her body becoming limp. "What the fuck are you doing here Frosty?", her hiss was ice cold.

"_Frosty_?" coughed spider, anyone could see that he was trying hard not to laugh, so hard in fect that his sides hurt."

"Frosty Drop Off The Willow Tree to serve you dear" mewed back Frosty, his voice laced with irony. "I could say the same for you Faithful Shadow Of The Everlasting Master." he said, a smirk smothering his black and white face.

**The cats of the Hord are in fact very distant relatives of the Tribe of Rushing Water, that explains the naming system. The Hord valorises some cats more than overs despite all the pretty talk the Master puts up and so only those cats are named. Unlike the Tribe they do not name kits at birth but only when they realise a special feat, those names can change and are a bit longer than average tribe names too. As you can guess Shadow got named by the fact the Master took a liking to her and requires her presence most of the time thus making her a shadow, her appearance does not matter that is why her white coat may seem weird to you.**

"Fuck off smartass." she sneered good naturedly, slipping effortessly through the clutches of the queen.

Thistle was gaping at the pair, oddly enougth they got along perfectly, anybody with a little frain could see that their spats where only a facade. The language of the kit and the scars that marred her frail body said otherwise but the gleam of contempt in her eyes meant she actually enjoyed her life, rough as it could be. And Thistle could simply not understand, who would willingly live like that?

And then the furious growl of Spider could be heard, turning her head she saw his jaws where frothing and his face was so twisted by fury that it was unreckonisable, he had lost control. She opened her jaws, she wanted to warn them, say that there was danger, that he had gone insane. But then his murderous fury would turn to her and despite her fighting skills it was Spider she was facing, and she had her kits to protect.

Shadow knew what the black tom was up to, she had seen that look before. Usually he was slaughered before he could kill someone but accidents happen, and there was no way he would leave her be. There was only one solution, run and leave Frosty. Her heart clenched painfully at the fought but she ignored him, she could not afford to be soft, she was certainly not weak. Her treacherous mind told her he would die, or worse; he would be awfully maimed and she would have to end his suffering. Dhe did not want to go there, Shadow without Frosty was as unthinkable than Shadow without Master, and that was very. The doubt and guild gnawed and bit at her stomach as she slunk backwards but she didn't falter, she didn't help him as the insane tom slammed into him and as the first drops of blood hit the snow, blossoms of scarlet, she turned tail and fled.

There was screeches and cries, she could hear a female voice beg him to stop, the gruesome sound of torn flesh still rang in her mind.

There was suddently a cry so high and so feral that she thought it was something else, but from the silence that followed she knew it was all over, she had caused Frosty's death. She stumbled through the snow and rocks, her pads where torn and pink trais stained the immaculate snow. Sha was cold, she was hurt, she was hungry and she had no one to protect her. Looking up to the jagged peaks she realised for the first time how small she was, how she could fall and die and that the world would not notice her abscence, that she was alone. But as scared as she was she contined to stumble blindly through the snow, to put one bloody paw before the other and oblige her aching muscles to move, just to continue to run, to flee from the others and the scream and the death. She was a nothing for the mountains, and this world eats the wounded ones.

She couldn't understand, it was the rule; fight or die, but she did neither and it left her confused. She knew she wouldn't die tonight, they would not chase her and she knew where to find shelter in the most empty ice field, so why did dread follow her around?

Something had snapped when she understood the meaning of the scream, what Frosty's death implied. She had fougt somehow, by sending him to die, and she had won the fight against the pain, the guilt, against herself. She tipped her head back and laughed, it was not a happy sound. She laughed until her ribs ached and the little sanity she had left was ebbing away. Who cared if he died, it wasn't because he had a name too that he was important, the Master would be happy that she was that strong. The guilt was nothing more than a dull sensation now and euphoria sent her running in the snow, skidding batween razor sharp rocks and spraying powdery snow around.

She had survived and the Hord was close.

They had begged him to leave, the couple would do anything for him to go, they where afraid. Somewhere he felt bad for the pain he had caused but it was just a pat so small and insignificant that he didn't notice it.

They would give him anything, they just wanted him to go. They had betrayed him.

So, standing over the still warm corpse, he dipped his paw in the pool of blood and walked towards the kits. Of course Thistle had tried to stop him, but he was stronger and she knew she had no chance to take over. Very delicately he smudged the blood on the pelt of the chosen kit, the scruffy and smallest kit, pretty ones didn't live long. His lime eyes scorched Thistle's pelt.

"This kit is mine now, she has been tainted by blood and she will never forget the stench. This is the price of my departure."

Thistle looked furious and for a moment he thought she might defy him, try to kill him for what he just did. But she didn't and any protest she was about to formulate died in her throat as she shook. He turned his gaze to Coal, daring him to care. But his gaze was colder than usual and any concern for the kit's fate, if there was any, was carefully concealed under an icy mask.

"Then take it" he hissed, his tortoiseshell pelt still smooth, "She is weak and ugly and i it wasn't for the mother I would have drowned it."

Spider smirked, a sadistic air on his face. They both ignored the outraged gasp from Thistle, there was nothing to say to her.

"Good to know you still are the cruel bastard I once met Coal, I would have proposed for you to come with us but you seem too caring about this molly."

The tortoiseshell tom didn't awnser, his gaze held an angry flame now and Spider knew it was time to go. He looked at Flight, scearching her evergreen gaze for doubt, a sign that she hated him. He found none.

"I shall follow you father." she mewed, that was the first time she looked strong.

So she had knew what he thought, sensed his doubt towards her strengh and reassured him in this regard. He was very pleased with her althought he didn't voice it, she began at least to learn.

"Come then." his voice was ice cold and he gestured for her to carry the bloodied kit. She obeyed without qustion and didn't even wince as the metalling tang of blood tainted her mouth, she had a loyalty to prove.

Slowly they trekked through the cold steppes and contourned the bare peaks of the montains. Then he found the trail he was looking for. It wasn't much; a kicked stone, a whiff of her scent, bloody pawsteps in the hard snow.

"Well my dear, it looks like we've found our goal."

Shadow had been wrong, very wrong, and they where coming to get her.


	4. Chasing Shadow

_Look, here she comes now._

_Bow down and stare in wonder._

_Oh, how we love you._

_No flaws when you're pretending._

_Everybody's Fool, Evenescence_

**So, now that I have come back from vacation I can publish again, thought I have very little motivation for various reasons, and yes the lack of reveiws is one of them, I will still publish this story and intend to finish it.**

Shadow was hungry, she had ignored it for the fist day but now the beast refused to back down. As she dragged herselft through the frozen rocks the constant rumbling of her stomach lulled her. She was very tired too but closing her eyes here meant never awaking again, and even in her state the will to _survive _kept her going. At first her torn up pads had hurt but now, despite the frozen blood caked around them, she didn't feel them anymore. One of her ears had turned black and hung pitously, wich meant bad news, but she didn't really care, it all seemed dulled next to the hunger.

**Frostbite (when parts of your body turn black and floppy from the cold and loss of blood circulation) is a common thing in the mountains, that doesn't mean she has lost her ear (yet) because with proper care and warmth, if it hasn't been there for too long, it can recover. **

But despite all that she needed food and quick. She had tried to eat snow and had filed her stomach with it, but all she gained was a burning sensation and the emptyness returned too soon.

**You can actually go up to three weeks without food but you won't be fine and pracing around and you have to drink, no water means death in five days.**

But just when she felt too tired, too hurt and too hungry to continue, the jagged rocks and frozen ground left place to a large field of powdery snow. She knew it was dangerous but there she could find food, and shelter. Not hesitating any longer she wriggled her hanches and launched herself on the thin crust of melted snow, who gae way. She didn't panic because the moment she began to sink she knew she had been right; the dark mouth of the tunnel swallowed her.

There was of course no reason to panic, once she hit the ice she realised the snow allowed enough sunlight to pass so she couls see. But even in the dark it would have been difficult, the stench of rabbit was overhelming. She cleched her jaws to stop herself from screaming out in joy. Instead she crawled rapidly down the frozen tunnel.

After yet another sharp turn she noticed that the smell was getting stronger, if that was even possible. She sniffed the air greedily and sped up, her prey was close. She suddently leapt forwards and burst into a small chamber in a shower of ice and gravel, ending nose to nose with a stupefied rabbit. An insanely wide grin appeared on her face as she cut the only escape the poor creature had, hunger was making her loose her remaining sanity. She stepped forwards, her small yer thorn sharp claws sliding out and saliva dripping from her now open jaws. The rabbit stood no chance against her hunger driven frenzy and she was enjoying every second of this. Then she stopped her taunting, the smell of prey and fear making her leap into the air, claws extended towards the creature she was hunting. It resisted a few seconds, small paws scoching her nose and sides, then she tore into it with incredible strengh, lashing out and burying her fangs into the still living flesh.

_Look at that, it's so fresh that it doesn't even realise it's dead, look at how it squirms, do you want some Frosty?_

A piece of meat has still hanging from her jaws, and she swallowed it. The beady eye of the rabbit screwed into hers as it seemed to mock her.

_"Look at you, eating like an animal, are you forgetting that you're nothing more than a coward, that you let him die? Yes he's dead, Frosty is D-E-A-D!"_

It was too much for her, the world was spinning at the same rythm than the twitching paws of the rabbit and she bent over and retched. She looked shamefully at the still agonizing carcass in front of her, she felt very heavy all of a sudden and her head was throbbing.

The floor wouldn't be such a bad place to sleep she decided. Ignoring the smelly mess she made and the shredded carcass she curled up on the spot and left blackness take over.

Frosty was standing in a hite room, he would have thought it to be ice but it was too warm to the touch. He was so absorbed in discovering what strange material the walls where made of that he didn't notice the other cat in the room.

"Hello my dear Frosty."

The voice was a mere whisper and he whipped around in shock. In front of him was standing a pure black she-cat, her pale blue eyes cold and emotionless.

"What are you doing here, Crackled Ice Of The Frozen Plains?" he snarled.

Her eyes twinkled with malice and she laughed, it was not a pretty sound.

"Why so cold my dear?" she gasped in fake hurt.

"Stop the bullshit, we both know you never cared about me so now awnser my question; why are you here?" he snapped.

She cracked with laugher once more, the sound was beginning to fray his nerves. He couldn't remember why he hated her so much but he did, and what she had done was unforgivable even if she ended up dying.

_Wait... dying?_

_T_he thought sent panic shooting up his nerves, it couldn't be, he couldn't be dead!

"But you are dear." she whispered once more.

The fact that she was reading his thoughts didn't disturb him as much than the fact that it was her who welcomed him into the realms of death, so the stories where just fairytales?No matter how he looked at it he couldn't put any sense in his reasoning. There was felines he loved more than her, but also people he hated more, even if there was few. Of all the cats who went to their death before him why did it have to be her to greet him. But the most important question was where he would end up. Surely the Great Spirits wouldn't want him to join them, but did he do deeds evil enough to be thrown into the Black Ice chasm?

"That, my dear, is a very good question. If you don't mind I shall show you."

Before he had any time to protest the ground beneath his feet became black and as it whithered and twisted beneath him. As his mouth opened into a wordless scream he was thrown into an endless pool of black.

Above him a pair of ice blue eyes shone with glee.

Flight was worried, and she had every reason to do so. The small kit she carried in her jaws had since long stopped squirming and it's pathetic squeaks had faded, the only proof she had that it was alive where the kit's incessant shivering. Herself suffered a bit from the cold and the sharp rubble under her paws but she shook it off, she had to prove her toughtness to her father. To be honest she was tired of caring, of worrying about the others and thowing her chances away for them. By following her father she just proved that she was ready to let her morals go and change. It wasn't easy to ignore the nagging feeling of guilt as she thought of the bloody corpse they had left behind, but the urge to prove she could be more than this, more than just a measy and mouse hearted molly, kept her going. She glanced at her father, he was steadily jogging in front of her, seemingly unbothered by the harsh conditions. How could he be so cold towards her, she had told him she would follow him to the end of the world and that was how she was rewarded? How cruel of him, but that was what she had decided to embrace after all.

If she didn't know better, if this overhelming will to change didn't blossom in her heart she would have begged him to stop, to warm up the kit and rest her battered body, but she didn't. Instead she ignored the clenching of her heart and sniffed the air in the small hope of catching the snow white kit's scent. Even the thing's name was odd, who named a white cat_ Shadow_ of all things? She had talked about a Master, and by the looks of it where she came from wasn't a kind place. But who was she to judge, now she was just a tool, something her father could use to his heart's contempt, nothing more.

_But nothing less, _said a little voice in her mind. She just shook it off, would she go mad that she wouldn't care more.

Then Spider stopped, his forepaws buried in immaculate, fresh and powdery snow. But it wasn't that who caused him to stop, neither as it the dark hole reeching of rabbit a few tail-lenghts forwards.

It was the tiny pawprints that linked the two.

**Not as long as I thought but it's still a chapter so there's nothing to complain about I guess. I was way to lazy to make it to 2000 words. I'd also like to thanks jazara evergreen for reviewing, as he (or she?) was the only one.**

**To awnser your question they swear like that because they have obviously no morals or decent cats to correct them, yes Spider just attacked Frosty but that was because he was intrusing their den and threatening them, the rant about the names seemed in the right place to me, I prefer to see it there so you can actually understand the how and why immeadiately, I don't mind you pointng out my mistakes as I have no beta reader and don't worry I don't mind constructive criticism as long that it's polite.**

**Also i'll maybe make Frosty a story of his own or just cram it into here, I don't know yet.**

**If you guess what the title means you have the right to choose a reward (try not to google it, books don't damage your brain) and I'll try to give it to you. Ex: a one shot about one of the characters, a double update...**


	5. Clouds and The Hord: Flight

_Oh look what the cat's brought in;_

_If you where a king up there on your throne,_

_Would you be wise enough to let me go?_

_For this Queen you think you own,_

_Wants to be a hunter again._

Hunter, DIDO.

**Yay a review! Even if it's only one and by the same person than the last time it really motivates me to write, I feel like a 5 year old you gave a candy or something. So remember to review if you want chapters.**

**Also jazara evergreen I hope you find some awnsers in this chapter, there is a reason why I didn't give them yet. As for the 'hite room' it was 'white room', thanks for mentioning it I'll surely fix it when I can (I'm so lazy). And check your inbox I left you a message.**

**Look what I've got: a filler chapter! (kind of anyways) I figured out that talking a bit about the Hord's 'traditions' might be helpful. Look at it like a pause from all this lovely angst I feed you usually.**

My name is Wild Dash Of The Startled Hare but you can call me Wild, really. I have been appointed as the head of the hunters by our beloved Master herself, she gave me my name too. She really is the best cat you could find, and real smart too. I don't think much, why would I do that anyways? But today is different, It's been a few sunrises, how much exactly I don't know, since Shadow and Frosty have dissapeared. If Frosty dies it's not a big problem, I always wondered why they named him in the first place, but if anything happens to Shadow they'll have my fur for sure. But the problem is I can't move, if I go away and Shadow finds her way back here how will we do? This is a very difficult question, I'm not used to that, part of my brain keeps screaming about how we should ask the Master. Butshe's not here, she can't clear the shadows from our path now.

Clouds That Hide The Rising Sun, the only named cat left here apart me, has no idea either, we can only waut fo things to pass as always. The difference is that she knows how to count, that means she's quite smart too, but of course The Master is way better than her.

So, following her suggestion, we counted the cats of the Hunters, to pass the time maybe. I don't see how it could help us but whatever keeps her calm is fine with me, a luck that the Sorting didn't appoint me to her, she would have skinned me raw rather than carry kits. So here you are, the cats of the Hunters described by Clouds and me.

**The Sorting is a thing for the named cats only, once you have your name and reach the ten moons you have a mate appointed to you. Normally you don't have a say in who your mate is but it can be arranged. Once you have your mate it's for life unless one dies. As males and females are treated as equals she-cats have to work until a few days before kitting, no herbs are given to them and the older mollies help for the kitting as the Hord has no healer.**

The Hunters (Dispatch #2 of The Hord)

Lead Hunter: Wild Dash Of The Startled Hare: A tom with short but thick light brown fur with a cream underbelly, dark green eyes. I like to think that i'm the most important cat out here, of course The Master is ruling us all.

Named cats:

-Clouds That Hide The Rising Sun: A molly with quite long and fluffy light grey fur and a flat muzzle, yellow eyes too. She thinks she's real smart because she knows how to count but I ay real cats don't need that, she's also a bit psycho- Ouch! Okay, just don't hit me!

-Frosty Drop Off The Willow Tree: He has short and silky black fur with a sort of weird masky thingy around his eyes, his eyes are grey, sort of stormy blue if you prefer. I swear he looks so feminine, like if his name wasn't laughable enough. Not that I know him that well, always stuck wth Shadow, I wonder how she stands him.

-Faithful Shadow Of The Everlasting Master: Real small, fluffy, quite long white fur, saphhire blue eyes. I respect her, really, even her name is a sign of dedication towards The Master, not to mention I have to be polite withe her as she's surely in lign to be the next Master. Oh, hey Clouds, I was just finishe- Ouch, stop hitting me!

Unnamed cats :

Full grown:

- A silver molly with white stripes, amber eyes. She's quite pretty, never talks much and hunts well, if anybody deserves a name it's her.

-A dark brown tabby tom with white forepaws, brown eyes. The agressive type, always here to bully the weak or lazy, quite useful actually.

-A ginger tom with a darker stripe on his back, green eyes. He's the dark tabby's cronie, always the first to attack and the first to flee.

-A black tom with ginger flecks, blue eyes. Never saw a tom look like him, quite weird, maybe he had a freak accident in his mother's belly? He has a twisted tail too.

-A fawn colored molly, long fur, really dark amber eyes. The kind of vixen I can't stand, she never settles down, always weaving herself around the tom's paws.

-A calico she-cat, amber eyes. Meh...

-A pure white she-cat with silver ears, glassy blue eyes. She's actually deaf, do I get all the outcasts or what?

-A white and brown tom, greasy type of slick fur, grey eyes. He never says anything, do you think he's mute?

-A very dark grey she-cat, spiky fur and skinny build, evergreen eyes. She must be the runt of her litter but she's real fierce, can tear your ear off before you can say 'owl'.

-A brown dappled tom with a white chest, wide blue eyes. He's okay, I guess...

Underlings (young cats in learning):

-A scrawny white molly with a brown tabby patch on her back, weird orange eyes. The fastest cat of this dispatch.

-A sandy orange tom with brown tabby markings and a lighter underbelly, big green eyes. A sort of 'look at me' tom, he's cute and he knows it.

- A small, sickly, greyish blue tom, amber eyes. This one won't survive long.

**The Hunters are actually divided by dispatchs by the Master, five in total. When you see the number of cats in this one only it seems huge but the Hord is in fact made of numerous cats, three hundred or more. Even with all those cats hunting most of the Hord cats are lucky if they get a meal every two days, even if the numerous births make up for the dead.**

My name is Clouds, you already know my full one. I like the short saying for it, it sounds unique not boring like Cloud or silly like Cloudy. Maybe it's because I never fit in before I met the Hord. You see I was a housecat before, with a human, house, cat chow and all. I never really liked it there but it wasn't like I had a choice, I never knew anything beyond the glass barrier of my felted world. So you must wonder, how did I end here, in the middle of these cold mountains, fraying with the wild cats. I think that if you have time for a story it's the good time for one.

I was born vulnerable, the only kit of my litter and my mother killed by my very birth. I am very aware that if it wasn't for the humans I would have died that day, the only day I knew then. But with the constant care and the filling milk I was fed I grew up to be more than they ever hoped. Not only was I the perfect specimen of my 'race' but my difformed muzzle was just normal enough to breathe like the others, thus making me a vary energetic kitten, always ready for a challenge. I was the smartest one of the house too, they loved to make up puzzles for me to solve and I loved showing them that I had no problem doing so. I was truly a curiosity but I never took notice then.

And so I lived my first months, I mean moons, playing around and pulling pranks. There was other kittens too but we never got along, I was too smart and they where too calm. I refused to see myself as a cat, for me I was as _human_ than the two legged creatures that brought me up. I was mocked and taunted for that but I simply refused to admit otherwhise, that would be marking me as an anomaly, it would be telling me that I didn't belong. So I continued my life, being showed around for my great intelligence as well than for my looks, avoiding more than ever any contact with my kind. I think it was my way of being happy. They named me too, but it made no difference for my young yet brilliant mind, names didn't count as much then. I think mine was Falcho, Falcho of The Arabic Cradle. Of couse I wasn't an exeption because I knew how to count, I was an exeption simply because I thought I was human, and so I gave it all to humans.

But I attracted too much attention, and it was not all of the good kind. People got greedy and it was to who possesed me first. My humans declined the offers at first, saying that I was part of their family, that they would never sell me. But then the offers became more agressive, telling them they where in danger for wanting to protect me, that they would make them miserable for refusing. So they lied. They lied by saying they where waiting for the best offer, the one nobody could refuse. It bought us peace for a moment, the threats dwindled and we made the mistake to think that we would be forgotten, that we could live in peace.

But it was a big mistake indeed because it came, they gave a million for my soul and they let them. My humans where only that after all, greedy creatures who resisted until they could no more. They told me that I was special, that I was lucky, that I was worth a million. But I knew I wasn't, I knew that it would never be the same because the night they sold me was not only the night I lost my family. It was the night I lost all faith in humankind.

I had never been outside and it scared me, the noise he lights, the nature and all those unknown things where so overwhelming that I cried, for the first time of my life I cried. Unlucky me, it wouldn't be the last time. The ride was long, the vehicle they put me into was dark and smelt like tabacco and dogs. Needless to say I hated it. I refused to admit it was happening to me, I was smart so I knew they really sold me but I still refused to think that going back home wasn't an option. When the doors opened and i was trown into a dark and empty room smething broke. I relised the god they talked abou didn't exist, and that humans where never to be trusted because they would betray you at the most unthinkable moment. So I just lay on the cold floor and cried. It was the second time.

When they finally let me out I learned a fiew things about my new home.

The first one was that a rich man needs expensive pets, pets not family, and that was the first big shock. I had always been treated as a family member so just being fed and ignored was a shock so big that I found a couch, laid down and cried. It was the third time.

I discovered the second one when I woke up, a broom knocking me down to the floor. It was that a cat should never sit where the said rich man does, because the carpet or the pet beds are the only places allowed. That time I was so shocked that I didn't cry, I just sat on the floor and waited.

The third rule was that human food was banned, what they fed us smelled so foul that I starved myself at first, until I was beaten for eating a crumb under the table. That night was the fourth time I cried.

The last one was t never claw anything and it was a painful rule to learn, by then I was just so used to it that I didn't cry, I just hissed and walked away.

But even if the other pets avoided me and that the maids hated me I could have continued like that, eating and sleeping and being showed like a pretty jewel in contests. Surely for any other cat it would have been possible, but not for me. I was too fond of love to let it go, and even if my ability to love had been beaten up and maimed it wasn't dead yet, that's why I didn't accept my fate. I was sour and vicious by then, nobody talked about me then because I had lost my ability to share and to trust, any puzzle brought to me was ignored and nobody tried to stick the pieces of my broken soul together. I was just a sad cat with a sad life.

But one day it all changed, it had began like a normal day thought, a beating for putting a paw on the chair then being prepped up to cover the scars. They caught me in a corner and stuffed me in a basked, knowing I would be calm for the contest. And I would be because I had to, because I knew that if I didn't do shows anymore they would get rid of me, and a small part of me still hoped for a better life. The ride was still the same, long, boring and smelly, I still wonder why they never got rid of the fear scent that clung to the metal floor. Then the van began to shake.

As the first rip appeared in my crushed baket I slipped though, I don't know why, I don't know how, but I found myself looking at a quickly passing field, ready to jump. I had never been so scared of doing something in my life, somehow despite my trembling body and the agonized cries of my travel mates as we hit a wall full force, I jumped. Adrenaline gave me so much energy that my muscular paws carried me faster and higher than ever before. The fence was right before me, it's jagged spiked glinying in a macabre greeting, but I flew straight above it. I really thought I was flying, it was such an intense and unknown experience that I forgot to be afraid, I forgot that the ground existed and I forgot that I didn't have wings. All that because for a tiny moment, a few precious seconds, I was really flying.

And then I hit the ground.

**Okay I admit I love evil cliffhangers. And I lied, for the angst.**

**Also HOLY STARCLAN I WROTE A CHAPTER OF MORE THAN 2.600 WORDS!111 ATWHJEXYRCZEE1KVYRUBL§§§§§§§§!111! (That means nothing)**

**Remember the contest:**

**If you guess what the title means you have the right to choose a reward (try not to google it, books don't damage your brain) and I'll try to give it to you. Ex: a one shot about one of the characters, a double update...**


	6. A Sick Meeting

_Faster, Faster, you won't go far_

_Shouldn't leave, feeling faint, we both know why_

_You got to show me, both knees, cold I lie._

_Hold me slowly, hide me until I can fight_

Lies, CHVRCHES

**Hello guys, I don't know why but I'm really motivated to write lately. And I want to thank jazara evergreen and Tea and Gingersnaps for reviewing.**

**And for jazara evergreen congrats for winning my little contest, this early chapter is for you, I don't think I ever saw a review so long, and yes your definition is really correct, you saw that poor book didn't hurt you (just joking). Now try to guess witch aspect of the definition is true in my story's case. At first Clouds was just there to be another named cat but then I began to write about her and thought it would be a good idea if she was one of the only sane cats in there. And that's when I realised that there should be a reason to that so I wrote her story. And guess what, she's my second favourite character now.**

**Also I still havn't decided of Frosty's fate so if anyone has suggestions they're welcome. I shall also do a special Hord chapter like last one every five chapter, so the next one is for chapter ten. So If you want me to reach that you know what to do: review.**

**Oh and a lat thing, if anyone wants to be my beta reader PM me, I'm really bad at spotting my mistakes and it would really help me. Plus you will get to ead the new chapter before anyone else.**

**Well I'll stop my rambling now, on with the story.**

Flight just stared a the pawprints, she had no will to defy her father. She knew that if they caught the white kitten it meant bad news, they would not let her go before they got what they wanted. But what did they want? Flight had no idea, she just wanted to prove to her father that she could be strong like he wanted her to. It was only now that she understood what it meant; whatever he asked her she had to obey, murder wasn't a thing she could escape. She had blood on her paws, even if she never striked anyone she was still guilty as charged, for she had stood ice cold while a corpse hit the floor, and had fully supported Frosty's murderer. She had to admit that she knew nothing of Spider's plans, for her and for the white kit.

Of couse she didn't voice her doubts, and the horrified statement was in her head only. The soung of crunched snow brought her back into reality; her father was slowly snaking himself into the hole. She simply pushed her sad thoughts aside and carefully skidded down the gaping hole, praying that the snow crust would support her weight too.

The snow blocked most of the light, and the faint glow the frozen walls filtered didn't help her see where she was going. There was the faint scent of her father, and a small tuft of white fur stuck on the wall, but the most evident trace was the rabbit scent, it was everywhere. Had she been any bigger she wouldn't be able to crawl down the rabbit tunnels, because that's what they where. Her father was a small cat too, even if he would never admit it. It was her loyalty to him nly who kept her from buckling and thrashing around in fear and claustrophobia, she was afraid. Afraid that she would keep going forever in those holes who snagged her fur and closed their cold flanks against hers. Afraid that they would crumble while she was still inside and that she would be stuck under gallons of snow, waiting for suffocation to kill her and Ansturm, for some reason she couldn't imagine her father failing, not finding a way to escape. All those fears seemed stupid but Flight had never wandered down a rabbit burrow, and the lush grass plains of GrassClan had been her home for most of her life.

**Snow rabbits actually dig their burrown in the ground during spring where the ice melts and the ground becomes softer, but because in this part of the mountains there is eternel snow, so it never melts, I imagined that they would dig their tunnels into snow and ice so that even if it melts a bit they are safe.**

But she just kept going, even if the shadowy tail of her father was no longer visible, the scent of rabbit and the one that was caught on the white fur got stronger, overwhelming her senses until she could no longer smell her father, or the blood smeared on Ansturm's pelt. After what seemed another eternity she kicked a chunk of ice, and the light nearly blinded her.

In the small ice cave she entered she noticed first her father, living shadow in the white world, then the rabbit. That was when she really jumped, the grey creature was still living, his flank torn open and a side of his stomack pulsing against the floor. The blood had began to freeze, sticking the organ to the flood, stetching as the rabbit's twitchs had led him further down the trail of blood. A black eye caught her, as the head was still faintly moving, and she noticed the pool of vomit, then she just saw scarlet.

Blood, it was blood, sticky and turning into a thick maroon liquid as it started to dry. A shape passed in front of her unseeing eyes and she was thrown into a memory.

_Frosty was bravely standing as he saw Spider lunge at him, he barely escaped and turned towards the frothing tom._

_"Why attack me?"_

_An horrid laugh shook the black tom's body, his eyes wild and somewhat unfocused._

_"Don't you realise? She abandonned you, you are as good as dead now."_

_Frosty spun around, franticly looking for a sign that she was still there, that she didn't leave him, but he found nothing. Then his gaze fell on the small pawprints leaving the den and he let out a distressed whimper._

_Spider took the chance and leapt, landing square on Frosty's back, the black and white tom reared back, trying to get the weight off his back but it was no use. Spider tightened his grip and small drops of a sanguine color welled up on the pristine fur. Frosty had stopped struggling now and was glaring at her, his eyes filled with hate. It didn't last long thought, because Spider started to viciously shred his shoulders, and Frosty dropped to the floor, hoping to crush the small tom. Spider simply jumped off, striking the exposed stomack of the other tom, the claws broke the skin and dug into the soft belly, leaving gaping pink wounds, soon filling with blood. Frosty curled up like a hedgehog, nesting himself around the horrid sight of his open belly. The scream that escaped his lips was so full of pain and despair that Flight dropped to the floor too, snapping out of her blood induced trance and clutching her eard in nearly physical pain._

_He had agonized for a long moment before his last breath escaped his lungs. _

Shadow stared at the black tom, he didn't attack her yet but was it a good thing? He seemed more sane now, and the scent of blood clouded his only a bit. It didn't stop her from bristling in anger thought, it was Frosty's blood after all. After a few minutes of intense glaring she just couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you want?" she spat, still bristling.

"Don't worry dear," the voice was honey smooth, "I simply want to make a deal with you."

She couldn't believe it, he killed Frosty and now he just came waltzing into her sleep to make a deal with her. The idea itself could have made her laugh if she wasn't that angry.

"Well sorry to break it but all your chances to make a _deal _with me vanished the instant you killed my friend."

He just stared at her a few moments then chuckled.

"Oh really? Well you fled and left him, I didn't know that was how you treat your friends."

She hated him, oh she hated him. But he was right, she left Frosty to die and it was her fault, only she didn't need to face it so soon, it hurt, it really did.

"Yes I left him," she meowed sadly, "But it was because you would have killed me too if I stayed."

He was smiling now, one of those smiles you never know the meaning of until it hits you in the face. "You don't know, maybe I would have let you live, do you know what that means?"

He was gloating, his awful face lit with glee. But she wouldn't let him have the pleasure to see her awnser to such tauntings, she was Shadow after all, the all powerful after the Master.

"That means you're a coward my dear." he spat, his amusement fading under her cold glare.

She didn't counter him, what good would that do? She was a coward but at least she was alive. Well maybe not for long but right now she was on her paws.

"Let's finish with your stupid gloating, what is that deal?"

She saw no use in turning around the pot now, he would clearly not leave her alone until she gave him her awnser. He was stronger than her, well _they where _if you counted the kit shivering on the floor and the molly covered in rabbit blood.

"Well you see I was thrown out of my group because of your _little friend_ there."

She saw his smirk return to his face, confidence written on every single inch of it, and immediately wanted to wipe it off his face.

"Your loss." she spat, feeling no pity.

"How cruel of you, well you see travelling alone is boring dear."

"You don't look alone." she growled, pointing her tail towards the two cats behind him.

He turned around, obviously annoyed by her remark. Good.

"Ah... well you see it's my daughter and a tiny kit so they don't really count, plus she never talks much."

He really thought she was dumb, it annoyed her to no end. And if he treated his daughter this way all the time she really felt for the poor thing, well not really but she supposed she _should_ feel this way.

**Do you know what's the main difference between psychopaths and sociopaths? It's that sociopaths are made while psychopaths are born that way. Tigerstar for example is a sociopath because when he was a small kit he was perfectly normal, it was the events of his life who turned him into the monster he is. Plus he loved Goldenflower and Sacha, psychopaths can't feel empathy. Sociopaths can but only when they want to understand the person.**

"Tell me what you want already bastard." she spat, baring her fangs.

He was not impressed at all but at least he looked annoyed, she just wanted to finish with this dumb tom already, forgetting the fear she felt a few minutes ago. He sighed, pretending to look hurt, but she saw it was all an act.

"Very well, I shall travel with you to whatever group you are part of and you shall help me become a part of it and in exchange I shall not hurt you in any way.

She nearly laughed, if he thought the Hord was a place where you could simply rise in rank and take over he was wrong, he was throwing himself into a nest where all the bees would kill themselves for the queen. But it arranged her, they obviously knew how to hunt well in the snow and to find shelter by night, they would help her to survive and she shall kill her when they arrived, simple really.

"I accept." she simply mewed. "What is your names?"

The ginger and white molly obviously had snapped out of her trance because she awnsered in a soft voice, "My name is Flight, and the kit is Ansturm.

"Spider" simply meowed the tom, looking a bit angry at his daughter.

She yawned and curled up in a far corner of the ice cave, not bothered at all by the body fluids scattered all over the place. Spider looked like he wanted to protest but she cut him off with a tired mew.

"We leave at dawn."

**So we have the two parties meeting at least, Spider wants to take over the Hord and Shadow wants to use him then kill him, do you think someone will succeed?**

**Here is a little Qustion Time; Who is your favourite kitty and why?**

**I just woke up, I think I'm nocturnal or something.**


	7. Those Little Whispers

**I'm kind of ashamed to update after a month only to present you a chapter I haven't even written but it's better than nothing. Plus you should really go encourage jazara evergreen who wrote this because she's an amazing writer.**

_I feel something so right_

_By doing the wrong thing_

_And I feel something so wrong_

_By doing the right thing_

_I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie_

_Everything that kills me makes me feel alive._

Finally. _Finally_. Finally, they had reached the Hord. Shadow was sick of the cold and looking forward to an actual meal.

Up ahead, she could just make out the small valley that sheltered the Hord and some cats standing guard, hidden in the crevices of the mountain. Of course, Spider hasn't noticed them, she was surprised at the things that flew right over his head. However, it did help that the cats were mostly camouflaged in with the mountain. That and the fierce snowstorm that was whirling around them.

_Soon_, she promised herself. _Soon, you can get rid of them._ The angry tom cat, out for blood and power; the young she-cat desperately loyal to her father. Shadow wondered how far she would go to get his approval. And the kit, cold and silent as death. _Soon, you will get away from all of this, get back home._

_And, _she added as an afterthought, _you will see the Master again. _She quickened her pace. Spider said nothing as he lengthened his gait to keep up with her, the kit swinging in his jaws. He looked slightly annoyed, _probably at being forced to follow a kit, _Shadow thought with amusement, but also determined. If Shadow didn't know the Master she would say he had a pretty good chance at getting into the Hord. At rising in the ranks and becoming the next Master.

But she knew the Master. And the Master would not be fooled so easily.

Shadow narrowed her eyes. _Was that...? No. But..._ It was a cat. Out here in the cold. Two cats in fact. Ducking their heads against the blowing snow, two figures slowly made their way forward, almost right past the guards. _How come they're not doing anything to stop them?_

Shadow growled under her breath. It would be a mild setback, that's all. She would go over there and teach them not to wander so close to Hord territory, then they would continue. She would shove Spider and the young mollie and the half-dead kit into the wasp nest and be done with them. _And yet..._

She shook herself and began to move forward again, this time in the direction of the two cats. As they got closer she could see both cats were carrying a kit. She heard Spider's sharp intake of breath. And then she recognized them.

They were the two other cats that were traveling with Spider before... _before Frosty was killed. _Shadow pushed the thought from her mind. The kits with them had grown slightly and they were not quite as dead as the kit that traveled with her. What was its name again? Ansturm.

Spider ducked in close, his breath hot against her frozen ear. "What are _they_ doing here?" He hissed.

"We could ask you the same question." The black and ginger tom still managed to sound intimidating, even with the kit in his mouth. The other one, a light grey she-cat, murmured something in his ear, but he shook his head and dropped the kit he was carrying at her paws.

"What a surprise," The black and ginger tom said. "Fancy meeting you out here."

"I could say the same to you, _Coal_." Spider seemed to have recovered from the shock and though he seemed calm, Shadow could feel the tension in the air, crackling like lightning.

Coal's green eyes were ice cold when he meowed, "I would like my kit back."

"Not a chance." Spider snarled. "She's mine now."

Coal stalked forward, his face a mask. The she-cat with him took a step forward, but then looked back at her two kits, standing neck deep in snow, and turned back. She glanced longingly at her third kit, Ansturm, who was still in Spider's mouth.

Ansturm seemed to catch a scent of her mother, for she squirmed and let out a single mew. The pale grey she-cat looked like she was in physical pain.

Spider smirked and dropped the kit in the snow. Shadow thought she saw a flash of anger in Coal's eyes, but he hid it well. Then Spider moved up so that he was facing Coal. He flicked his tail and Flight walked up beside him. Regret was written all over her face, but either Spider didn't notice or he didn't care. He knew that Flight would do anything to prove herself and he was using that to his advantage.

Shadow sighed. She knew what she would have to do. This was the perfect moment to finish of Spider and his little group. She took a few steps, so that she was on Spiders other side. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye with some emotion she couldn't place.

"Careful, Coal." Spider said, his voice sickeningly sweet. "You wouldn't want to be responsible for this mess again, would you?" Coal looked away. Shadow stared at the two toms. _What did he mean? _For the first time, she thought about Spider's history before she met them.

Meanwhile, Coal was starting to look worried. He looked over his shoulder to his mate, perhaps seeking aid or encouragement. That was when Spider charged forward with a ear-piercing yowl that echoed off the mountain.

Shadow stepped to the side and watched as the three cats clashed. _Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait-There!_

Coal had just threw off Spider and pushed past Flight. He was aiming to get the kit. Shadow leapt in front of him and snarled. _Keep up the act, Spider's watching. When Coal goes to attack you, slide under him and get to Spider. Then..._

Coal snarled and lunged forward. When Shadow tried to slip under him, he surprised her and moved to the side, cutting her off. Shadow ducked under his swipe and slashed his belly, causing him to hiss in pain. He leaned forward and caught her on the shoulder and she stumbled back from the force.

With a snarl of her own, she jumped straight up and landed on his back. Quickly, she dug her back claws in to keep from falling off and used her front paws to box his ears. He growled and bucked, trying to throw her off, but the blood running down into his eyes kept him from doing so. Finally he got it, dropping down and rolling over, trying to squish her. This was what she wanted.

Lightly, she leapt off of him, just in time, and went to join Flight and Spider. Flight was looking at her with something like surprise and Spider was too busy snarling at Coal, his face twisted with bloodlust.

Together, they stood in front of Ansturm, forming a living shield. Coal staggered to his paws staring over Shadow to his kit. He seemed to realize he was badly outnumbered because he whipped around and ran to join his mate. They both picked up a kit and ran off into the snow, disappearing quickly. _Cowards!_

Shadow watched them go, making sure they didn't loop around, then she turned and began walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going!" She heard Spider's meow, but didn't look back.

"I'm going to the Hord." She answered simply. "Would you care to join me?"

She knew that he had picked up Ansturm and was following her again by the crunch of snow under his paws. She didn't turn around until they were almost on top of the Hord. There, she waited for Flight to catch up.

A slight rustle caught Shadow's attention and she saw a familiar face watching her from the shadows.

"Who's there?" The cat meowed. "State your name and business." Shadow recognized Clouds' voice as the grey she-cat jumped down from her post.

"I said-...Shadow!" Clouds' eyes widened, but before she could ask any questions Shadow said, "Clouds-"

"Who's she?" Spider demanded. His fur was bristling warily though he seemed almost too eager to jump into another fight.

Clouds finally seemed to notice the black tom. Her gaze darted to his face, then alighted on the fresh scratches running down Shadow's flank. Her eyes filled with rage and with a ferocious yowl she leapt.

Straight at Spider.

**I just love her writing, review so I can go harass her to write her own story, I'm pretty sure it'll be awesome.**


	8. Like a Pair of Kits

**Here I come with a new chapter, I'm actually spending my money in a library for the internet because my siblings broke my computer, again.**

_Mirror, what do you see  
>Glory, fortune or insanity?<br>I was never like them  
>I could never obey their insane lord<br>Please let me enter  
>Mark me with the holy sword <em>

_Shit!_ Shadow had not planned this, and needless to say it made her angry, very angry. For a few dazed moments she just stood there, looking at Spider with utter hatred.

_No... _She had to control her emotions, in moments like this even the flaring heat of anger could cause her death. The Master had warned her, emotions where for the common cats, those who had no other way to express themselves as they lacked the capacity to think, to plot carefully.

She watched carefully as Clouds jumped forwards, headbutting Shadow in the chest full force. Not the smartest gesture but she had to admit it was efficient as Shadow was thrown backwards into a mound of snow. His daugter gasped and dropped the kit in the snow by inadvertance. Not that it mattered it was pretty much half dead already. And for a few hopeful moments she thought it was indeed lifeless, but then it let out a pityful mew and she ignored it.

Clouds was trapping a dizzy Spider between a pair of boulders, a quite frightening look on her face. But to her surprise Spider didn't get mauled by Clouds's vicious claws. Instead he plunged down in a flurry of snow to avoid her ravaging blows and stuck like a snake, catching his opponent's throat.

_What a surprise, this idiot actually knows how to fight. _Spider had indeed left her puzzled about how the hell he had survived in the mountains after the last fight.

But Clouds quickly recovered and threw herself on her back, sending him flying once again with a mighty kick. He quicky stood up but she lunged at him again, her claws tearing into his exposed shoulder. By that time he seemed to understant the danger he was in because he quickly circled her, despite the blood drenching his wounded shoulder, Clouds missing another swipe. He quickly retaliated by jumping at her, aiming for her belly. Swiftly moving to the side she caught his extended paw, crushing it between her jaws.

Shadow watched them for another few minutes, slowly growing bored. By then they had ditched all form of stategy and where grappling in the snow like a pair of overgrown kits. Both cats where now bruised and so bloody that without Clouds's flat muzzle it would have been hard to tell them apart, Spider having obviously inherited his mother's feminine build. Flight was trembling with worry for her father but couldn't bring herself to join the fight but not bothering to pick up the kit either.

_I should stop this. _With a quite unnesserary sigh she stood up, trotting towards the crimson patch of snow the two others where still fussing around in.

"Stop." she commanded.

Just like she expected Clouds had immediately juped to her feet, crouching before her fearfully. Spider took longer to pick himself up, glaring hatefully at Clouds and obviouly wanting to continue the fight. Fortunately for him Shadow's emotionless gaze and his battered stade stopped him from pouncing again. Shadow had not such restraints and she promptly cuffed him on the head.

"Stupid." she spat in his face.

Ignoring him she turned to face Flight, who had thought good to join them, the now shivering kit bach in her jaws.

"I trust you to cause no trouble dear."

Her voice was little more than a purr and she was pretty sure her breath was ticling Flight's ginger and white muzzle. She knew by the look she recieved that she was frightening her but she didn't care. Somehow the small tinge of guilt that protected her withered hear was gone, leaving her with a frozen heart to match her eyes.

From the corner of her eye she saw Spider crawling towards her, obviouly boiling with a violent need to complain. He didn't even have time to steady himself because she she had flexed her paw and hit him.

Three times.

Her blows connected with his ribcage and he fell with a sickening crack, his death glare pretty obvious despide the pain that twisted his features.

"I have no need nor use to explain Clouds, I trust you to relay the news of my return to Wild, he will relay them to the Council."

**The Hord is in fact strangely well organised and the principal families are composed of some feline legacies where tghe offsprin is mostly named.**

**The Council is composed of the Head cats, they take care of organising The Hord and relay the directions of the Master to the Dispatch Leaders and the Head Of Caves. They also carry the task of naming the cats they deem worthy. The dispatch Leaders take the outside news to the Council because they are in contact with the outside. There is exactly twenty four cats in the Council and each time one of them dies or is 'disposed of' the Master personally appoints a replacement, each election is a big event and all the named cats can present themselves in hope to be chosen.**

**The Head Of Caves are those who rule each different cave who compose The Hord, each one's job differs following the nature of the cave they rule. They all have a personal nest, exeption made of the Heads Of Birth Cave who are two and share the same nest. **

Clouds didn't even spare a glance towards Spider and slunk into one of the numerous tunnels reserved to the dispatch cats.

"No she-cat, the tunnels are for the common Hord cats."

Flight, who had started to follow suit, ducked her head in shame and obediently padded back to her.

"So how do we get in?" the voice was rough and twisted in pain.

_Ah yes, Spider. Nearly forgot that one._

"By there."she said simply, flicking her tail towards a ledge on the other side of a rather wide crevice.

He gaped at her, clearly looking torn between anger and the urge to laugh.

"It's impossible!"

The crevice was indeed several foxlengths larger than the average jumping length of a cat and the jagged spiked lining it made the ledge look pointedly inacessible. Shadow wasn't very phades and she employed herself to look surprised.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not a fucking bird, I can't fly! And I'm pretty sure that you're pulling my tail right here because you neither."

"I can." she stared rather smugly.

Then she jumped.


End file.
